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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — for digging
  4. shower — rain
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. spell — a short time
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. present — the time now
  10. spell — letters
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. rock — music
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. rock — a stone
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. present — there
  22. shower — to wash
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com